Department for Transport

Govia Thameslink Railway

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 31 January (HL Deb, col 1093), what form the operational and contractual performance monitoring of Govia Thameslink Railway takes; how frequently that monitoring takes place; and whether the results will be published.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: Ministers and officials are in regular contact with the operator regarding performance on this franchise, as they are with all other franchised operators. Performance data against the franchise contractual benchmarks is reported to the Department for Transport every four weeks. The Department is currently developing plans to publish this performance data for all franchised operators; the frequency and timing of these reports has yet to be determined.

Department for Education

Schools: Finance

lord kinnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice they are giving to school headteachers and governors who are notifying parents that they need to make voluntary financial contributions to help offset higher operational and employment costs and real-terms reductions in public funding.

lord nash: The Department has published advice for head teachers to help ensure their charging policies comply with the law. The advice accurately reflects the terms of the Education Act 1996. The ‘Charging for School Activities’ advice states schools can ask for voluntary contributions for the benefit of the school or any school activities. When schools request voluntary contributions they should not pressurise parents into paying and must make clear to parents there is no obligation to make any contribution. The advice also states that no child should be excluded from an activity simply because their parents are unwilling or unable to pay. The core schools budget has been protected in real terms since 2010, with school funding at its highest level on record at more than £40bn in 2016-17. The Government continues to provide support for schools to help them use their funding in the most cost effective ways, including improving the way they buy goods and services, so‎ they get the best possible value.

Pre-school Education: Teachers

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the conclusions of a recent report by LSE and Surrey University that graduate nursery teachers for three- to five-year-olds make a small impact on children’s attainment compared to non-graduates; and whether they have any plans to review their policy regarding requirements for nursery staff to be graduates.

lord nash: The Government recognises that graduates play an important role in improving quality in the early years, and that is why in 2013 we introduced the early years initial teacher training programme which leads to the award of Early Years Teacher Status. We have made a significant investment in this programme by providing funding for course fees and bursaries to eligible trainees, and also funding for employers to support trainees. Research undertaken by Sandra Mathers and Rebecca Smee in 2014 showed that within the private, voluntary and independent sector, settings with a graduate member of staff scored more highly on all quality measures. Graduate leadership was also associated with a narrower quality gap between settings located in deprived and more advantaged areas. As such the Department supports and encourages those working in the sector to qualify as graduates if they so wish, but we do not currently have any requirements in place for staff working in the early years to be graduates. The forthcoming workforce strategy will set out the Government’s ambition for graduates in the early years in further detail.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Offshore Industry: North Sea

lord birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they plan to use to decide whether Royal Dutch Shell will be permitted to leave behind underwater storage tanks and concrete rig supports in dismantling the Brent Oilfield; and how they intend to ensure that the dismantling is managed in accordance with Article 5 of Annex III to the OSPAR Convention.

lord prior of brampton: The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy will consider the Brent field decommissioning proposal based on the evidence presented in the decommissioning plan and the supporting information provided in the decommissioning plan package. The proposal to leave the Brent installations in situ will be considered in accordance with OSPAR Decision 98/3 on the disposal of disused offshore installations. In doing so, the Department will apply Annex 2 of OSPAR decision 98/3 which sets out the framework for the assessment of the proposals for the disposal at sea of discussed offshore installations.

Department for International Development

Syria: Refugees

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations in the report by the International Rescue Committee In search of work: Creating Jobs for Syrian Refugees: A Case Study of the Jordan Compact, published in February.

lord bates: As Rory Stewart, Minister of State for International Development set out at the report’s launch, the Government welcomes this report which assesses progress made during the first year of the Jordan Compact and considers what more needs to be done to create employment for refugees and the host community. The Government commends the significant progress made by Jordan and international partners during implementation of the Compact: almost 40,000 work permits have been issued to Syrians in Jordan, critical financing agreements have been signed with the World Bank and IMF, and a comprehensive trade deal was signed between the EU and Jordan at impressive speed. But we recognise that more needs to be done to improve the design and implementation of the Compact particularly by learning from refugees own work experiences and the issues faced by women in search of safe and decent work. The forthcoming Brussels Conference, which the UK will co-host, provides a key opportunity to increase momentum and ambition on delivery of the Jordan Compact.